The present invention relates to a damping device comprising a damper which is arranged at a first part of an article of furniture or furniture fitting (collectively, an article of furniture) and which is actuated by a second part of an article of furniture or furniture fitting and in that case damps a relative movement of the two parts.
Moreover, the invention concerns a furniture hinge, a pull-out-guide assembly for drawers, and an actuating mechanism for moving a furniture flap having a damping device of the kind to be described.
It is known in the state of the art for articles of furniture or furniture fittings to be provided with a damping device so that a damped movement of the movable furniture part or the furniture fitting into at least one end position can take place. In that case, an actuating element associated with the damping device is acted upon by an abutment portion or by the movable furniture part itself, as from a given relative position of the furniture fitting, and that initiates the beginning of the damping process. However, when using furniture fittings with integrated damping function, the furniture part to be moved can be braked excessively so that the resulting closing and opening time of the movable furniture part exceeds a tolerable magnitude. In the extreme case, it is even possible that no complete movement at all of the movable furniture part is possible, to the desired end position.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a damping device of the general kind set forth in the opening part of this specification, while avoiding the aforementioned disadvantage.